Volume 6.45 | Nov 7

Applications Flood Stem Cell Bank: A new global stem cell centre in South Korea says it has been inundated with applications from patients willing to take part in research at the institute.Article

Dendreon Announces FDA Grants Fast Track Status for Provenge: Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq: DNDN) today announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track review status to PROVENGE® (sipuleucel-T) for its proposed use in the treatment of asymptomatic men with metastatic, androgen-independent prostate cancer.Article

Science

Researchers Use ‘Trickery’ to Create Immune Response Against MelanomaA new type of immunotherapy in which dendritic cells are tricked into action against cancer when they are exposed to harmless pieces of viruses and bacteria is described in the November issue of Cancer Research.Article

Los Angeles Hospital Disbands Liver Transplant Program in Wake of Scandal A Los Angeles hospital is ending its liver transplant program after officials acknowledged in September that doctors gave an organ to a man who was not among the neediest patients.Article

Clinical Trials with Immunotherapy for Breast and Colorectal CancerResearchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine are conducting clinical trials on a unique approach to enhance the immune system in patients with breast or colorectal cancer.Article

Adult Stem Cells May Be Just Remnants Of EvolutionResearchers from the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim, Germany have now demonstrated, in a study published in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biology, that at least some adult stem cells could be the mere remnants of former embryonal differentiation processes, or, in other words, “footprints” of evolution.Article

ABSTRACT, REVIEWS, & SPECIAL REPORTS

Feasibility of Cord Blood Stem Cell Manipulation with High-energy Shock Waves: An In Vitro and In Vivo StudyThe pretreatment of CD34(+) cells with HESW represents a new method to manipulate the CD34(+) population without interfering with their ability to both expand and engraft and it might be considered as a tool for genetic approaches.Abstract

Pharmacological and rAAV Gene Therapy Rescue of Visual Functions in a Blind Mouse Model of Leber Congenital AmaurosisA combination of intraocular gene therapy and pharmacologic bypass provides a complementary way to restore retinal function in an animal model of human hereditary blindness.Abstract

Repair of Impaired Myocardium by Means of Implantation of Engineered Autologous Myoblast SheetsMyoblast sheets repaired the impaired myocardium, reduced fibrosis, and prevented remodeling in association with recruitment of hematopoietic stem cells through the release of stromal-derived factor 1 and other growth factors. Abstract

Policy

Korean Stem Cells Not for EveryoneScientists in countries with the most restrictive policies on research cloning may not be able to take advantage of the international consortium based in South Korea, which was hailed this month as a means to provide stem cells to researchers living in restrictive environments.Article

Japan Vows to Speed Device ApprovalsJapan has vowed to accelerate regulatory reforms that will speed the introduction of safe, effective and innovative medical devices to Japanese consumers, according to a new joint U.S.-Japan government trade report on regulatory reform and competition policy. Article

California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Opens Doors in San FranciscoMission BayThe permanent headquarters of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) opened its doors for the first time today in San Francisco. City Mayor Gavin Newsom and ICOC Chairman Bob Klein cut the ribbon to 210 King Street this morning and toured the remodeled 20,000 square-foot facility. Article

Business

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. Reaches Safety Milestone In Stem Cell Clinical Trial For Cardiac PatientsOsiris Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that its multi-center, human clinical stem cell trial for the treatment of patients suffering from heart attacks has successfully passed the first safety milestone of the trial. Article

Dendreon’s Second Randomized Phase 3 D9902A Trial of Provenge Extends Survival in Patients with Advanced Prostate CancerDendreon Corporation (Nasdaq: DNDN) today announced that final results of its second Phase 3 study (D9902A) of PROVENGE(R) (sipuleucel-T), the Company’s investigational active cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer, were presented here today during a late-breaking clinical trials session at ECCO 13-the European Cancer Conference. Article

Progenitor Cell Therapy Commences Expansion of Its Cell Therapy Manufacturing Facility in Mountain View, California Progenitor Cell Therapy, LLC (PCT), a leading full service cell therapy development and contract manufacturing company, announced today that it has started construction on the next expansion phase of its cGMP/cGTP cell therapy manufacturing facility in Mountain View, California. Article

CalbaTech, Inc.’s Subsidiary, LifeStem Inc. Files Provisional Patent Application For Stem Cell Microbank And To Trademark “Stem Cell Microbank”CalbaTech, Inc., an emerging life sciences company concentrating on providing products and platforms to the research market for biotech and pharmaceutical companies and to academic institutions, announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, LifeStem, Inc., filed for US Trademark protection for the name of its stem cell collection service, Stem Cell Microbank, and filed a provisional patent application on the process of the Stem Cell Microbank for its process of stem cell banking. Article

Endocyte Near Patent for Cancer Treatment TechnologyThe Purdue Research Park firm announced Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued it a notice of allowance for a patent encompassing a proprietary treatment method that helps the immune system find and destroy cancer cells.Article

Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. Enters Strategic Regenerative Medicine Collaboration With Olympus CorporationAs part of the terms and agreements, the two companies will form a 50:50 Joint Venture, Olympus-Cytori, Inc., to develop and manufacture future generation devices based on Cytori’s Celution™ System. Article

Targeted Genetics Presents Additional Data from Its Inflammatory Arthritis Program at the 13th Annual Congress of the European Society of Gene TherapyResults demonstrate safety and reduction of mean tenderness and swelling scores of the treated joint; results support continued study of tgAAC94 in conjunction with TNF-alpha antagonists in inflammatory arthritis Article

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Announces Defense Department Grant to Study Tarvacin(TM) Platform for Prostate CancerPeregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM – News), a biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative, clinical-stage product candidates for viral diseases and cancer, today announced the U.S. Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program has awarded a grant totaling $582,988 to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas to study the use of vascular targeting antibodies in combination with chemotherapy agents for the treatment of prostate cancer.Article

Oxford BioMedica Seeks £30m for Cancer Drug TrialsOxford BioMedica, the speculative biotechnology company formed out of the Oxford University a decade ago, is talking to fund managers about a fund-raising to pay for large-scale trials of a cancer treatment. Article

AnorMED To Commence Trading On AMEXAnorMED Inc. (the “Company” or “AnorMED”) is pleased to announce that the United States Securities & Exchange Commission has declared the Company’s registration statement on Form 40-F effective on November 3, 2005. Article

Albany Molecular Research, Inc. Opens New Facilities in Singapore and IndiaAlbany Molecular Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMRI) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Albany Molecular Research Singapore Research Centre, Pte. Ltd. (AMRSRC), has moved into permanent laboratory facilities in Singapore that provide room for significant growth.Article

Jonathan Lakey, Ph.D. Presents the Edmonton Protocol for Islet Cell Transplantation to the Sanguine Medical Advisory Board The medical advisory board of Sanguine Corp. (OTCBB: SGNC), a bio-pharmaceutical company focused on the development of oxygen-carrying synthetic substitutes for human red blood cells and numerous other areas requiring oxygen perfusion, received a presentation from Dr. Jonathan Lakey, the director of the Clinical Islet Laboratory at the University of Alberta at Edmonton related to the Edmonton Protocol, including the use of PHER-O2.Article

Immucor (BLUD) To Close Its Houston Manufacturing FacilityImmucor, Inc. , the global leader in providing automated instrument-reagent systems to the blood transfusion industry, announced today it plans to close its Houston, Texas manufacturing facility.Article

AssurX Announces Immediate Availability of CATSWeb Process for Document ControlAssurX, Inc., the leader in Enterprise Quality and Compliance Systems, today announced the immediate availability of CATSWeb Process for Document Control, allowing built-in, easy and effective management of the controlled content life cycle from change orders through release approval, dissemination and training.Article

Cellerant Therapeutics, Inc. Appoints Ramkumar Mandalam As Vice President Of Pharmaceutical OperationsCellerant Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that Ramkumar Mandalam, Ph.D., has joined Cellerant Therapeutics as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Operations.Article

NIH

Dr. Kishor Bhatia to Head National Cancer Institute AIDS Malignancy ProgramThe National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has announced the appointment of Kishor Bhatia, Ph.D., as director of the new AIDS Malignancy Program (AMP). Bhatia has served as the program director for the Cancer Diagnosis Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, since 2004 and his appointment to AMP was effective Oct. 2, 2005. Link

NIH Offers $35,000 in Annual Student Loan RepaymentOn Thursday, September 1, 2005, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) began accepting applications to its five Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs). Deadline for applications is December 1, 2005. Link

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Stem cell therapy still not here Cytotherapy publishes original research, reviews, meeting reports, special focus issues and letters in the general field of cell therapy. The scope of the journal includes basic and applied research with hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic stem cells, immune cells, and antigen-presenting cells. Therapeutic topics within the scope of Cytotherapy include ex-vivo and in-vivo aspects of gene therapy, immunotherapy, stem cell transplantation and tissue regeneration. Cytotherapy particularly welcomes contributions from researchers, clinicians, technicians and individuals involved in regulatory aspects of cell therapy.http://journalsonline.tandf.co.uk/link.asp?id=107693